


The Highest Form of War

by NectarinesAndSourThings



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Avengers Movies Universe
Genre: AU...? sort of?, Character Deaths, F/M, Tony!Feels, Villain!Tony, but not graphic, not a happy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-06
Updated: 2012-11-06
Packaged: 2017-11-18 02:37:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/555949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NectarinesAndSourThings/pseuds/NectarinesAndSourThings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In another life, Tony Stark is not Iron man. He is not an Avenger. He is not one of Earth's Mightiest Warriors.</p>
<p>Heroes are heroes only because the world could not withstand them were they otherwise, and in another life, Tony Stark is not a hero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Highest Form of War

In another life, Tony Stark does not come back from Afghanistan burning with relief and guilt and a need to fix things, but angry and hurt and knowing he will never _not_ hurt, and so he decides the world will be the same.

The first person to fall to the new world order is Pepper Potts: it is quick, and painless, and it is one part mercy and one part a declaration of love, because Tony Stark knows exactly what he's doing and where it's headed.

He is not much more lost or damaged than the Tony Stark who became Iron Man- Yinsen's death just hit a little harder, the cracks the Ten Rings left were a little deeper, Howard's neglect festered a little further. It is not much. It is enough.

When Tony Stark is Iron Man, he is the glue that keeps the Avengers together; when he is not, he is the paint thinner.

Tony Stark is a genius- the world doesn't quite realize what's happening until it's all but over and SHIELD is shattered and Nick Fury's remaining eye has been carved out by a laser one photo-receptor at a time.

Thor does not pick up Mjolnir after he is banished to Midgard, because Phil Coulson isn't in New Mexico (small planes _are_ dangerous, such horrible safety ratings, who'd have thought?), and so neither is Hawkeye- Thor doesn't go down easily, but neither do Shield Agents. Most of the Shield Agents, however, don't get back up. Dr. Selvig doesn't go to help out "Donald Blake", and Jane Foster doesn't get her research back. Even without the Destroyer incident, Asgard descends further into chaos than Loki can fix, and even though Thor does not return, Loki still falls to the void because Sif and the Warriors Three thought to challenge him on the Bifrost. It is not a noble battle: when Odin wakes, they pay the price for their treason.

Steve Rogers doesn't adapt to the twenty first century- he adapts to Tony Stark's way of thinking, because the world is a sick corrupted place and he trusts Howard's son more than he trusts the people who tried to trick him with badly dated ballgame broadcasts.

Natasha Romanov does call Bruce Banner in, but only because it is a calculated risk on Tony Stark's part to let SHIELD last that long. It works. So does the removable cage in the Helicarrier.

The Black Widow does not get the chance to recover her compromised partner, but Clint Barton _does_ recover his free will just long enough to see her blood on his hands.

Tony Stark uses Loki's own scepter to subjugate him long enough to get him pumped full of enough sedatives to put the Hulk out of commission, and so it's not just a nuke that goes through the Chitauri's portal: Loki Liesmith and Bruce Banner go with it.

The rest of the Nine Realms look on, and conclude that Earth is ready for a High form of War. Tony Stark is nothing if not adaptable, and he rises to meet their challenges.

Rises to their challenges and _thrives_ on them, because there is no unifier like a common enemy, and now all of Earth looks to him to lead them. Asgard, in an attempt to avenge their lost princes, does Tony Stark the biggest favor anyone ever has, because it is not Tony all of Earth's people are rallying against, it is _them_.

Tony Stark rises to the Nine Realms' challenges, and thrives on them, because while Tony Stark is certainly ready for a Higher Form of War, the rest of the Nine Realms are woefully- _hilariously_ -unprepared to face him.

In another life, Tony Stark is not the Merchant of Death- he is Her harbinger.


End file.
